The surprising reason Brazil is ahead of many countries in advancing women leaders
Key Takeaways
• In both the private and public sectors, figures show that women are gaining high-level leadership positions, albeit at a slow pace.
• Surveys indicate that, by region, North America and Africa showed declines.
• Among the new challenges for female executives are the advancement of technology and the arrival of AI in the corporate world.
The presence of women in top leadership positions declined globally in both large corporations and mid-sized companies.
Brazil, however, moved in the opposite direction. The country increased female representation in senior management, posting a percentage above the global average, according to the Women in Business 2026 report by global consultancy Grant Thornton.
Brazil recorded 37.7% of women in senior management roles in 2026, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. Grant Thornton said salary transparency measures introduced under Law 14,611/2023, which requires companies with more than 100 employees to disclose salary data and remuneration criteria, may have contributed to greater accountability and progress in gender representation.
As a result, Brazil is among the countries with the lowest proportion of companies without women in senior management, according to Grant Thornton. "We saw good progress here in Brazil, but it is important not to stagnate at this level," said Élica Martins, Audit Partner at Grant Thornton Brazil, in a press release.
Growth in South America
South America continues to lead all regions in female representation in senior leadership, reaching 37.0% in 2026 despite a slight decline of 0.2 percentage points. Chile also advanced gender diversity efforts by approving legislation aimed at increasing female representation on corporate boards.
Globally, Europe was the only region to record an increase, albeit a modest 0.1 percentage points, while Africa and North America posted declines of more than 2 percentage points.
The Asia-Pacific region remained the weakest performer overall, with women holding 31.8% of senior management positions. Although the region includes high-performing countries such as the Philippines and Thailand, it also contains the two lowest-ranked countries, South Korea and Japan. Japan nevertheless recorded one of the year's greatest improvements, increasing by 3.1 percentage points and surpassing the 20% mark for the first time.
Leadership in the Public Sector
Female representation in Brazil's federal administration has also increased. According to the survey Profile of Leaders in the Federal Government – Gender Breakdown, women occupied 38% of top leadership positions in February 2026, up from 29% in February 2022.
Across leadership positions overall, women accounted for 39% of appointments in 2022, highlighting that the highest-ranking positions still lag behind broader leadership representation.
According to Mayara Farias, General Coordinator of Management Information at the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI), the figures indicate steady progress rather than full gender parity.
Government affirmative-action measures have contributed to that trend. One example is the National Unified Public Exam (CPNU), which required equal numbers of women and men to be called for the next recruitment stage. "Inclusion and equity policies have been producing results, even though the path to substantive equality remains under construction," Farias said.
New Challenges and Personal Costs
Despite the progress, women continue to face significant challenges after reaching leadership positions. Surveys by Lean In and McKinsey & Company have consistently found that women managers report higher levels of burnout than their male counterparts.
The Women in the Workplace 2025 report, the largest study of its kind, covering more than 120 companies and 9,000 employees, found that many organisations are reducing diversity initiatives while women continue to shoulder disproportionate workplace expectations, increasing emotional and professional strain.
Artificial intelligence is adding another layer to this challenge.
According to the report, men were 27% more likely than women to report receiving recognition for using AI at work, while 32% of women said they worried that using AI tools could lead colleagues to question the originality of their work.
AI Agents
Although the international study does not provide a country-specific analysis for Brazil, AI adoption continues to expand across workplaces, with many professionals using the technology to improve productivity and automate repetitive tasks.
For Dr. Luciana Bueno, Medical Manager for Primary Care and Rare Diseases at Daiichi Sankyo Brazil, AI has become an important research assistant.
"Artificial intelligence helps me access relevant scientific studies needed for my research. The search is much more efficient, both in terms of data quality and the design in which it is presented. This translates into more free time because I can finish my research faster and dedicate more time to the children," she said.
Technology executive Lisiane Lemos, co-founder of the Conselheira101 Institute, a mentor at Google's Black Founders Fund, and a professor at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), cautioned that productivity gains do not always translate into better well-being.
"The more information you can access, the more time is left over. Except that this time ends up being used to add more work. That's where mental exhaustion comes in. I have to make an effort to use that time for rest. In a world with an excess of information, multi-screening, and a World Cup along the way, we won't be able to handle everything. There is no optimised version of a schedule that can solve this," she said.Disclaimer: The image used in the article is AI-generated
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
